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Avid stumbled further into the woods, tripping over his own feet, the forest floor illuminated only by silvery moonlight. His lungs burned, air escaping him in pathetic huffs. His heart was pumping loudly in his ears, he could hardly hear it over the buzzing filling his head, frantic thoughts of hungry hungry hungry needfoodHUNGRY-
Avid gasped, tears filling his eyes as a sharp pain pierced his gut. His vision was blurring, exhaustion pulling at his muscles. He needed food. He needed meat he needed-
There.
A sheep, blinking slowly up at him. It's pristine wool shining a lovely white. Why was it even awake, Avid thought numbly, hands curling around the handle of his axe, didn't it know there were predators in these woods? Vampires could hunt it. Monsters. There were monsters in these woods.
Just a little, he told himself, bringing up his axe to strike, silver glinting in the pale light, just one sheep can't hurt. He doesn't see the axe come down, but he hears the tearing of flesh and a pained cry as the sheep goes down. No struggle. No fighting. It's over just like that.
That should be enough, that's normally enough, but the bitter tang of blood fills his nose, sharp and metallic, and suddenly he needs more. Avid can't hear his own thoughts anymore, drowned out by the roaring in his head, the call for fresh meat dominating his other senses.
He watches, detached, as black claws -they are connected to his arms but they are not his they're not he's not- rip apart flesh and sinew. He hears something crack, maybe a rib, as the claws dig into the carcass, pushing aside what looks like lungs to grasp the still beating heart nestled in it's chest.
The creature yanks, blood spraying as arteries snap, and then the organ in held in his hand. It's not enough, it never is. He feels it come up to his mouth, his teeth - not his, his aren't that sharp - sink into the soft muscle, the delicious - not delicious disgusting terrible - taste of blood and flesh filling his senses.
The creature bites, ripping out a chunk, and Avid feels it swallow. The disgusting remains sliding down his oesophagus and filling his head with nausea, but nothing overpowers the urge to feed.
He doesn't know how long it is, but more chunks of the heart are gone before Avid comes back to himself. Before it's Avid's hands with a heap of muscle clutched within them, Avid's throat that has blood still trickling down, Avid's body that just killed an innocent animal.
A choking sob escapes him, punctuated by a coughing fit. His nausea comes back full force, his heart fills with dread at the mutilated corpse ahead of him, the air suffocating with the cloying smell of blood.
He feels uncontrollable tears slide down his cheeks, dragging dirt and grime and blood down with them. His nausea threatens to choke him, pulling tighter and tighter around his stomach, gripping his throat, clouding his mind.
He vomits. The sheep's innards taste even worse coming back up. The forest floor is a mess. He wipes his mouth, staining the shote of his sleeves. His neck throbs. He takes one last look at the sheep, it's gaze unseeing, expression forever frightened.
It should have known better.
There are monsters in these woods.
Avid turns and runs.